The present invention relates to electrical connectors, and more particularly an electrical connector having a plurality of blade terminals therewithin. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to an electrical connector of the aforesaid type incorporating a blade stabilizer which is guidingly positionable between a prestaged position and a staged position.
Multi-blade electrical connectors have a number of bladed terminals (ie., male terminals), and are typically configured with a separate cavity for each terminal and a shroud surrounding a projecting blade of each of the terminals. The cavity and terminal are cooperatively configured so that when the terminal is inserted thereinto from an end of the connector opposite of the shroud, a mutual locking interaction ensues which fixedly locates the terminal in the cavity.
There are two problems associated with conventional multi-blade electrical connectors. A first problem relates to potential for blade misalignment. Blades may become bent or otherwise misaligned, resulting in inability of any misaligned blades to electrically connect with its counterpart terminal of a mating electrical connector. A second problem relates to one or more foreign articles potentially entering into the blade environment within the shroud and thereupon becoming lodged amongst the blades, resulting in an inability to properly mate the multi-blade electrical connector to its mating electrical connector.
Accordingly, what remains needed in the art is a multi-blade electrical connector which is configured to prevent blade misalignment and foreign article entry into the blade environment.
The present invention is a multi-blade electrical connector featuring a guidingly movable blade stabilizer which prevents blade misalignment and foreign article entry into the blade environment.
A multi-bladed electrical connector has a connector body featuring a shroud at one end and a plurality of terminal cavities at the other end. The shroud provides a shroud cavity which communicates with the terminal cavities. A bladed terminal is lockably received in a respective cavity, wherein the blade thereof projects into the shroud cavity. The shroud has a top wall, an oppositely disposed bottom wall and a pair of mutually opposing side walls extending between the top and bottom walls, each of which forming a respective interior wall surface. The shroud walls have formed therein at least one pair of mutually opposed slot sets, each being composed of a prestage slot and a staging slot mutually axially aligned (along a terminal axis) and separated by a prestage detent.
A blade stabilizer has a planar shape defined by an edge periphery which generally conforms to the aforesaid interior wall surfaces of the shroud. The blade stabilizer is provided with a plurality of blade apertures, each blade aperture being located so as to snugly receive a respective blade when the edge periphery of the blade stabilizer adjoins the interior wall surfaces and the plane thereof is perpendicular to the terminal axis. Opposing edges of the blade stabilizer each have at least one staging nib for being respectively received into the slot sets.
In operation, the multi-blade electrical connector is preliminarily assembled, including placement of the blade stabilizer into the shroud cavity at a prestage position whereat the staging nibs are received into their respective prestage slots. At this presage position of the blade stabilizer, assembly is completed by each blade being placed into its respective terminal cavity so that the blade thereof passes through a respective blade aperture, with only a small portion of the blade (the end of the blade tips extending outwardly therebeyond). As a mating electrical connector is inserted into the shroud cavity, the forward face of the mating electrical connector presses upon the blade stabilizer and forces the staging nibs to become snappingly pressed out of the prestage slots, ride over the prestage detent and become resiliently received by the staging slots.
Referring now to the Drawing, FIG. 1 shows a multi-blade electrical connector 10. The preferred multi-blade electrical connector 10 has a configuration for connecting to a mating electrical connector 100 (see FIG. 7), preferably including a cam lock lever, similar to that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,612 to Flask et al., issued Sep. 22, 1998, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-blade electrical connector with a guidingly movable blade stabilizer which prevents blade misalignment and foreign article entry into the blade environment.
This and additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become clearer from the following specification of a preferred embodiment.